Talk:Fecal coliforms
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[edit] The
The large body of text needs to broken down with subheaders to resemble the encylopedia layout. Perhaps someone with expertise could help out? Gordeonbleu 06:38, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Broke down large body of text. Agree that page should be merged. Need further revision of entire document, especially Analysis section. Need more links. --Yacht boy 19:58, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Pets???
Shouldn't the pets section just read "Animals"? A bear can shit in a stream just as easily as a dog can shit in a parking lot and cause bacteria to flow indirectly into a stream. It seems to be almost an attack on the practice of keeping pets to specifically list them as a cause for water contamination as opposed to simply animals.
[edit] "Health Hazards"
Lemme get this straight, the bacteria is indicative of water that is toxic but isn't toxic alone? Starhood` 20:49, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
- The presence of these bacteria sanitary problems, or even fecal contamination, but the fecal coliform assay needs to be interpretted carefully according to the nature of what is being tested.
The word toxic generally refers to something that contains a toxin, toxcity is not indicated by the presence of any bacteria.
Fecal coliforms are micro-organisms that cause a positive reaction in the fecal coliform assay. The Fecal coliform assay is a test for type I E. coli, which is an indicator microorganism for fecal contamination (presence of Salmonella, Shigella, Cholera and others). At the time of the inception of the fecal coliform assay, it was not recognized that other organisms would cause false positive results, and the test was already in widespread use before it's limitations were known. Also at that time E. coli was classified as E. coli partly due to a non-pathogenic nature, and indicator micro-organisms are often thought/referred to as non-pathogenic. It is possible to test for these non-pathogenic indicator organisms in a bio-containment level 1 (BCL-1) lab, whereas the pathogens that are indicated by the presence of indicator micro-organisms are often BCL-2 or even BCL-3, which require extra equipment and training. Also tests for indicator micro-organisms are often performed in proximity of water or food intended for human consumption, and so it is not desired to propagate dangerous organisms. In addition testing for pathogens in relation to food and water, would produce records that show the presence of pathogens which inspires fears of legal trouble. In anycase testing for indicator organisms is preferred to testing for the pathogens themselves. Also, bear in mind that even though it's called a fecal coliform test, due to it's limitations (primarily the common widespread presence of non-E. coli coliforms) it's often used as a simple non incriminating test for sanitation effectiveness, and cleanliness. That is when it's used at all, it's falling out of favor, and the coliform assay is more common.James.folsom 21:32, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
